Jennifer Love Hewitt (born February 21, 1979)[1] is an American actress, television producer, author, television director, singer and songwriter. Hewitt began her acting career as a child by appearing in television commercials and the Disney Channel series Kids Incorporated. She rose to fame for her role as Sarah Reeves Merrin on the Fox teen drama Party of Five (1995–99). She later starred in the horror film I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and its 1998 sequel.

As a singer, Hewitt has been signed by Atlantic Records and Jive Records, and is primarily known for her recordings in the pop genre. Her most successful single on the Billboard Hot 100 is the 1999 release "How Do I Deal", which peaked at number 59.[2] She has also contributed music to the promotion or soundtracks of acting projects. Hewitt was identified as the "number one reader choice" on the November 1999 and May 2009 covers of Maxim magazine.[3]TV Guide named her the sexiest woman on television in 2008.[4]

Early life

Hewitt was born in Waco, Texas,[5] to Patricia Mae (née Shipp), a speech-language pathologist, and Herbert Daniel Hewitt, a medical technician.[6] Hewitt grew up in Nolanville, in Central Texas,[7] and has close kinship ties in parts of Arkansas.[8] After their parents divorced, Hewitt and her older brother Todd were raised by their mother.[9] Patricia Mae Hewitt died on June 12, 2012, aged 67, following a battle with cancer.[10]

As a young girl, Hewitt was attracted to music, which led to her first encounters with the entertainment industry. At the age of three, she sang "The Greatest Love of All" at a livestock show.[11] The following year, at a restaurant-dance hall, she entertained an audience with her version of "Help Me Make it Through the Night".[12] By age five, she had tap dancing and ballet in her portfolio.[13] At nine, she became a member of the Texas Show Team (which also toured in the Soviet Union).[14]

At age ten, at the suggestion of talent scouts and after winning the title of "Texas Our Little Miss Talent Winner",[15] she moved to Los Angeles with her mother to pursue a career in both acting and singing.[9] In Los Angeles, she attended Lincoln High School[citation needed] where her classmates included Jonathan Neville, who became a talent scout and recommended Hewitt for her role in Party of Five.[12]

Career

Acting

After moving to Los Angeles, Hewitt appeared in more than twenty television commercials, including some for Mattel toys.[16] Her first break came as a child actor on the Disney Channel variety show Kids Incorporated (1989–1991),[17] where she was credited as "Love Hewitt." She later appeared in the live action video short Dance! Workout with Barbie (1992), released by Buena Vista.[18]

She played Pierce Brosnan's daughter in a pilot for NBC called Running Wilde (1993), which featured Brosnan as a reporter for Auto World magazine, whose stories cover his own wild auto adventures. However, the series was not picked up and the pilot never aired.[19] Hewitt later had roles in several short-lived television series, such as Fox's Shaky Ground (1992–1993),[20]ABC's The Byrds of Paradise (1994),[21] and McKenna (1994–95),[22] and finally became a young star after landing the role of Sarah Reeves Merrin on the popular Fox show Party of Five (1995–99).[23] She assumed the role of Sarah after joining that show during its second season and continued it on the short-lived Party of Five spin-off, Time of Your Life (1999), which she also co-produced.[24] The show was cancelled after half a season.[25]

Hewitt starred in The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000).[32] That same year, she was the "most popular actress on television" due to her Q-rating (a measurement of a celebrity's popularity) of 37.[33] Noting her "Q-rating," Nokia chose her to become its spokesperson.[34]

She starred alongside Sigourney Weaver in the romantic comedy Heartbreakers (2001)[35] and did voiceover work in the animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (2002) as Madellaine, the main protagonist's love interest.[36] Hewitt wrote and performed "I'm Gonna Love You" for the film; the song won "Best Original Song" at the DVD Premiere Awards.[37] She starred alongside Jackie Chan in The Tuxedo (2002),[38] which received negative reviews from critics but was a box office success.[39] Hewitt appeared in If Only (2004) and co-wrote and performed "Love Will Show You Everything" and "Take My Heart Back" for the film's soundtrack. She starred in Garfield (2004),[40] which became her highest-grossing film to date ($200,804,534 USD).[41] She reprised her role for the sequel, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006),[42] which, though it did not perform as well as its predecessor, achieved a strong box office gross.[43]

Hewitt starred in the television series Ghost Whisperer (2005–2010),[44] which ran on CBS for five seasons before being canceled by the network in May 2010.[45] She reunited with her I Know What You Did Last Summer co-star, Freddie Prinze Jr., in Delgo; but when released in 2008, the film was a massive box office bomb,[46] taking in only US$694,782 domestically.[47]

In 2011, Hewitt was announced to direct the film Wait Till Helen Comes (based on the novel by Mary Downing Hahn).[52] She had previously directed three episodes of Ghost Whisperer, and this would be her feature film directorial debut.[53] Production on the film was slated to begin in the summer of 2011, but no further announcements about the film have been made as of January 2015. She also starred alongside Ivan Sergei and Joel David Moore in the independentcomedyJewtopia (2012).[54]

In July 2014, CBS announced that Hewitt had joined the cast of Criminal Minds as Agent Kate Callahan in the series’ 10th season.[57] However, Hewitt became pregnant with her second child during the production of season 10 of Criminal Minds, and left the cast of the show at the end of the season, with the possibility of further appearances left open.[58]

Music

Hewitt was one of the back-up singers in Martika's number-one single, "Toy Soldiers" (1989). At the age of 12, Meldac funded the recording of Hewitt's debut studio album, Love Songs (1992).[59] The album was released exclusively in Japan, where Hewitt became a pop star.[60] Her explanation for her success in Japan is that the Japanese "love perky music. The poppier the music, the better."[61]

After she joined the cast of Party of Five, she signed to Atlantic Records, who rushed her second studio album, Let's Go Bang (1995), out in October.[59] The album and its three singles failed to chart.[59] Juggling her music career with her acting career, she recorded and released her self-titled follow-up album, Jennifer Love Hewitt (1996).[62] The album, along with its four singles, failed to chart and Atlantic dropped Hewitt, who did not return to the music scene for three years.[59]

In 2002, Hewitt signed to Jive Records[69] and recorded her fourth studio album with singer, songwriter, and producer Meredith Brooks.[70] The first single, "BareNaked" (2002), became her biggest radio hit to date when it peaked at No. 24 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, No. 31 on the Adult Top 40 and No. 25 on the Top 40 Mainstream. It climbed to No. 6 in Australia, remaining there for two weeks,[71] and reached No. 33 in the Netherlands.[72] The song later featured in two episodes of Ghost Whisperer: "The Vanishing" (Season 1, episode 20)[73] and "The Collector" (Season 2, episode 20).[74] The moderate success of the single propelled the album to peak at No. 37 on the Billboard 200[75] and No. 31 in Australia.[76] However, it only remained on the chart for three weeks. The second single, "Can I Go Now" (2003), failed to chart in the US, while managing to peak at No. 8 in the Netherlands[77] and No. 12 in Australia.[78]

Since 2004, Hewitt has remained inactive in the music industry, but she released the compilation albums Cool with You: The Platinum Collection (2006) in Asia[79] and Hey Everybody (2007) in Brazil.[80] In 2009, reports surfaced that Hewitt was planning on making a country album and was in the process of writing material for it.[81]Jamie Kennedy, Hewitt's boyfriend at the time, said: "I really want to make her a new demo for her music, because I think she should do singing again. She's so good."[60] However, nothing has of yet come of the reports. Hewitt has remained mostly absent from the music industry, but in 2013, she recorded a cover of "I'm a Woman" to promote the second season of The Client List and shot a music video for the song, which reached the top ten in the iTunes Music Video chart.[82]

She wrote a book titled The Day I Shot Cupid (2010), in which she speaks of her experiences with love and dating.[85] During a January 2010 interview on Lopez Tonight, Hewitt said that there was a chapter in the book about "vajazzling" her "vajayjay" (decorating her vulva with Swarovski crystals);[86][87] Hewitt is said to have contributed to the popularization of this trend.[88] The book became a New York Times Bestseller the week of its release.[89] She announced via her Twitter page in June 2011 that she was penning a follow-up.[90]

Napolis admitted to being involved in a shoving match with Hewitt's mother while confronting the actress.[92] Napolis accused Hewitt, along with director Spielberg, of controlling her thoughts through "cybertronic" technology and being part of a Satanic conspiracy against her.[93] Napolis was charged with six felonies related to the incidents.[94][95] After a year of involuntary commitment, Napolis pleaded guilty and was released on bail with a condition that she was barred from any contact with both Spielberg and Hewitt.[96]

In late 2005, Hewitt began dating Scottish actor Ross McCall after he made an appearance on her show Ghost Whisperer.[97] They became engaged in November 2007, while vacationing in Hawaii.[98]People magazine reported that Hewitt called off their engagement in late 2008.[99]

In March 2012, Hewitt began dating her The Client List co-star Brian Hallisay.[100] In June 2013, Hewitt announced that she and Hallisay were engaged[101] and expecting their first child.[100] They married later in 2013,[102] prior to the birth of their daughter Autumn in November.[103] In January 2015, the couple announced they were expecting their second child.[104][105] In June, their second child, a son named Atticus, was born.[106][107]